Mauer Hitting His Stride
by Jesse on May 8, 2008 6:57 PM EDT
in News
9 comments
With his slow start in the rear-view mirror, we can only hope that Mauer's approach at the plate (and the ensuing success) can be contagious. He's now batting .346/.420/.452.
On April 12th, Joe Mauer went 0-for-4 against the Kansas City Royals, giving him quite the dubious start to the season. Certainly the entire offense was in a disturbing funk, but hitting just .250/.279/.300 and hitting second or third in the batting order, Mauer was sitting at the center of the problem.
Of course in his next game he was again hitless, but did draw a trio of free passes. Since then he's gone hitless only once, and in his last 17 contests has turned things around impressively. In that period he's a one-man wrecking crew, hitting .406/.500/.547. Sure he's still homerless, but with a line like that, who cares?
So, with the prodigal son once again hitting exactly like the baseball diety he's often treated like, it's time to shift our disapproving gaze to a couple other hitters whose power and potential seems to have been zapped by a phantom black hole.
The "Come On Boys, We Need Your Help" Section
Mike Lamb: Lamb wasn't expected to hit 20 homers, or strike fear into the heart of any pitcher who stepped onto the mound, but the idea behind signing him was that he could easily improve upon Punto's notoriously horrendous output from third base last year. To this point he's not really doing much better, hitting .207/.224/.272. If you're wondering if part of the problem is in the splits, don't bother. He's still doing better versus right-handed pitchers, but it's a moot point right now: .555 OPS versus righties, .214 OPS versus southpaws. The free agent investment in Mike Lamb was a smart one, but for the moment it isn't working out.
Delmon Young: Unlike Lamb, Young had some moderate expectations to deliver some punch in the middle of the order. After Thursday afternoon's loss to the White Sox he's hitting .264/.308/.304, with only three doubles and no home runs to go along with a very low line-drive percentage (14%) and a whole lot of ground balls (60%). His isolated power is .042, which is miserable. On the plus side, at least to this point in the season his walk rates are up slightly, and his strikeout rates are down slightly, in comparison to 2007. There's clearly loads of raw talent there, we can all see it stewing underneath the surface, so hopefully he can play through this and bust out sometime soon. Until then, I think he needs to be put On Notice.
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Kubel
Kubel has escaped much talk, but he hasn’t done very much other than those homers. he is at least usually good for a Sac fly when the situation is there though. His LD% is way down so far this year, as is his walk taking ability. I’m not totally sure what to make of it…
"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane
by AdamOnFirst on May 8, 2008 10:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think Delmon has shown very little at the plate
Fair or not I think most people had the expectation that Delmon would show more power than Punto, and so far he hasn’t. No power and he will swing at anything thrown w/in the ballpark. By now he should have tripped over a HR but so far nothing and no sign that this is going to change in the near future.
Delmon you are on notice, whatever that means!
by caluofmn on May 9, 2008 12:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
On Notice
This poll should allow us to select more than one option, because they all deserve it.
You know, if the Twins moved Mauer to third base, then they could bench Lamb.
(dodges rotten tomatoes)
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
by BeefMaster on May 9, 2008 10:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
why
does everybody want to move Mauer to 3B? Mauer himself doesnt want to go there. He loves catching and why not let him catch. Not every catcher develops bad knees….for instance, Pudge Rodriguez started his catching career in the major leagues at the age of 19. He is now 36 and he still is good. Why not let Mauer catch? We have the best catcher in the Major leagues while we do.
Lamb may be not so hot at the dish right now but he is making the plays in the field….who would have thought that Lamb would only have 2 errors in May? He is second in fielding percentage!
by 33MorneauMVP on May 9, 2008 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Lamb
How is Lamb behind anyone in this poll?
He is hitting like Nick Punto 07 right now without the defense. Another month of this and it’s really time to consider cutting him. The idea with Lamb was to not have an embarassing bottom of the order and it’s just not happening.
by TMW on May 9, 2008 10:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Value
For me, it’s looking at what the team invested in the player. The Twins sunk a couple million (pretty much major league chump change) into Lamb. He could be cut or not, benched or not, and I’d be ambivalent.
However, the team gave away Matt Garza for Delmon Young. That’s a much more substantial investment, and unlike money, Garza isn’t an investment we can get back.
I think it’s more about worth and perception for me than raw performance.
by Neil on May 9, 2008 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Leash Length
I get your point about what the team has invested in each player, but we have to take into consideration why each player was acquired. Delmon Young, more than anything else, is an investment for the future of the ballclub. So how he does this season matters less when evaluating the decision to bring him aboard. The Twins are far more interested in how he’s going to perform over the following 5 seasons, and they anticipate some bumps in the road. It’s part of the growing process.
Mike Lamb, on the other hand, should have a much shorter leash. He was signed as a 2-year stopgap until the Twins can find someone better. As such, the Twins were/are expecting him to fill his role much better this season. He was expected to be a productive 7th or 8th place hitter in place of Punto’s black hole in the lineup. Instead, he’s been even more of a black hole. Lamb’s OPS is nearly 200 points lower then Punto’s right now (!).
-Flip
by Flip27 on May 9, 2008 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Everett
I know people are going to say that he hasn’t gotten enough plate appearances due to injury, but I still think that Adam Everett needs to be in this discussion. He has had only 40 AB’s, but so far, it’s been horrible.
It’s not like we expected much from him. His career OPS is .652, but so far this season it’s only .420. Again, that’s due in part to injury… -But being injuried is a disappointment as well.
-Flip
by Flip27 on May 9, 2008 1:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Nice to see
Both Lamb and Young redeem themselves a little bit tonight. I think Young is on the verge of heating up. The sure fire sign is that Reusse just wrote that he sucks. That’s like the opposite of the SI curse.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
by cmathewson on May 10, 2008 12:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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